The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1887-08-19
THE ART OF PRINTING.
How Near the Ancients Came to Learn
Ing It-Historical Facts. fi w

How Near the Ancients Came to Learn
ing It-Historical Facts. va
The world has many times come near
to printing, and just missed it. The an
Gent Assyrians stamped their records
deep in bricks or cylinders of clay, using
a raised wood block, or possibly separate
characters. A wooden hand stamp dis
covered in tomb at Thebes left upon
the Egyptian bricks for which it was
used, in raised hieroglyphics, the name of
Amenoph-possibly that very Pharaoh
who was the taskmaster of the Israelites
which was cut into it. The Greeks
not only cut exquisite seals, leaving raised
impressions upon wax, but used also the
contrary process of engraving maps upon
smooth metal plates, from which they
might have taken ink impressions elf
they had only thought of ito
The Roman potter used, it would seem,
movable types to stamp his vessels with
the owners name or q contents label; the
private loaves of bread sent to the public
oven were stamped with an owners
mark; cattle and slaves were 'sbranded'
by heated stamp; the s'signum of Ce-
elias Hermias" in raised brass, which
writing his name or Of learning how to
write 1t, as well as several incised brass
stamps which seem intended for use with
ink, are in the British museum. Quin-
titan suggested the use of stencil to
teach Roman school boys to write, since
by following its lines with their STYLUS
they could trace the letters; Cicero and
other Latin writers come very near the
idea OF printing types when they speak of
the absurdity Of expecting an ineligible
sentence from chance mixing of engraved
letters; Pliny, indeed, speaks of "a GER
tain invention" by which Marcus Valro
proposed to insert in his books ''the i'm
ages of 700 illustrious persons,' thus
Saving their features from oblivion
and making them known over tho wide
world, which sounds very like our wood
cut printing.
Yet, so far as we know, all Roman
books were made by slave copyists, SO
cheaply that Horace complains that his
books were too common, while Martial's
first book of epigrams could be bought
for six sesterces GA cents) in plain and
five denarii go cente) in fine binding,
and the daily newspaper of Cicero's
Rome, the Acta Diurna, which contained
local news and gossip of marriages and
divorces, as well as acts of the senate,
was probably mado in like manner. The
Emperor Justin, who could not write,
used a stencil to sign his name, and mer-
chants had trade marks to the Same pur-
pose.
The CodeX Argenteus, or Silver Book,
at Upsala, Sweden, which dates from the
Sixth century or earlier, must have had
its silver letters stamped on its purple
vellulm one by one, since some of the let
ters are upside down, and such engraved
letters were in use by many caligraphers
OF the middle ages to outline initial letters
for their Illumination. Woven fabrics of
silk and of linen were printed in colored
inks from hand stamps in Italy possibly
as early as the Twelfth century; indeed,
Breitkopf holds that the Egyptians thus
printed cloths, and the Mexicans and
Polynesians bad perhaps like practice.
The printing press itself was rather an
adaptation of the wine press or cheese
press used in all countries than an inven-
ton, and the playing cards and block
books of the middle ages, made from en-
graved wooden blocks, which preceded
the use of movable types, were probably
printed on it.-R. r. Bowker in Harper's
Magazine.